Why Suffering?

Wow that’s a hard one! Of all the topics in the Bible, this one carries the most confusion and fear. This one can make even “strong” Christians doubt and cry out, “My God, My God, Why?” You may want, even hope to avoid it, but the truth is we all experience suffering and pain and we need Gods help to maintain and even strengthen our faith while we go through our trials. But chin up, it all leads to love.

August 6 Know Pain, Know Gain. Romans 5:1-5. This may be the hardest question your soul will ever have to face. Pain makes life feel unfair and leaves us wondering where is God, which is why Paul uses it to help us feel the firm foundation of Gods love beneath our feet even when we experience suffering.

Why Faith?? A study of Romans 4

Most people think that God rewards the good and punishes the bad. It makes sense to us and to do otherwise almost seems irresponsible. So what do we do with statements like this, “To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” Romans 4:5. God helping, justifying, the ungodly? It makes no sense! But it does to God. Why? For one simple reason- Faith. That what this series is about- Why Faith?

July 30. Unbelievable Hope. What if there was no logical reason to believe that something good would happen to you. What if the circumstances were so bad that you really thought, “No chance - ever.” What kind of hope comes in hopeless situations?

July 23. The Expectation of Grace. Have you ever gone to somebody for help and wondered if they would? Have you ever thought- “Do they like me enough?”. A lot of people are the same with God. What do you expect?

July 16. The Law of Faith. A lot of people wonder how to get the power of God working in their lives. It's like we wish there was some consistency rather than the confusion of all the religious theories around us. Enter the Law of Faith.

July 9. Un-Romantic. What is the book of Romans really about? Complicated doctrine? Condemning expectations? Confusing regulations? Not at all. It is a beautiful description of the deep supply of God to meet our most basic needs through the simplicity of faith.

Does my “But” look big in this?

The things that we squeeze into or drape over ourselves to make us feel more confident in ourselves may not be the “buts” we are really hiding. It may be that the lives we want to live may be directed more by the excuses we allow ourselves than the dream we cling to. This month we are looking at the ways we “self-sabotage” our lives with the “buts” we harbour in our hearts rather than letting Gods “but” empower our change.

June 25 The Plumbers Crack of Won’t. A lot of people make a lot of excuses to avoid doing something, being something, obeying in an area of life that really are lies. The truth, down deep, is that we don’t want to. It's not fear, it's not can’t- it's won’t. It’s the giant “but” of rebellion.

June 18 The Caboose of Can’t. Someone once said, “The person who thinks they can and the person who thinks they can’t are both right”. It's amazing how our perspective is shaping the steps we take, the things we attempt and the beliefs we allow. The giant “but” of I Can’t needs to get into shape.

June 4 The Booty of Fear. Nothing impairs Faith like Fear. Every Bible character had to face the giant “but” of fear to grab hold of their destiny. It comes in many shapes but its always the huge “but” that is controlling the choices we make.

Foundations for victory

Every warrior knows, every builder knows, every leader knows that the strength of the man/ building/ organization relies on the strength of its foundations. Bad foundations lead to future failures, while good foundations serve us long into the future.

This month we are going to take a look at two foundations that we deal with every day that are either helping us or hindering us as we seek to live the victory that Christ has given us.

May 28 Special Guest: Pastor Jeremy Steel. Now based in Cairns but travelling the nations establishing missionary training schools and churches, Jeremy will inspire you with stories of transformed people and communities with the Gospel.

May 21 Finance. The spirit of money. You may have heard that Jesus has been given authority over every spiritual power, but you may not have known that money is one of those powers. Lets learn from Him how to bring the spirit of money under his control so that it blesses our lives and others.

May 14 Family. The shaping of humanity. Mothers Day is a great time to reflect on how our mothers have helped us, but this time we are going to talk about how they shape humanity, and not just mothers but fathers and relatives too.

May 7 Finance. The source of our supply. We are impacted by money every moment of our lives, but so often people have no idea how to master it. Jesus spoke more about money than heaven and hell combined, maybe we should get some financial advice from Him.

April 30 Family. The foundation of society. Joe Habermehl. What is the most indespensible unit in any society? The family. But there may never have been a time in history where family is more fractured and insecure than now.

THE GREATEST VIEW APRIL 2017

So often in our lives we define ourselves by the significant events around us. How long we are married or divorced, how old our children are, birthdays and deathdays. But there was a moment in time that changed everything, when Gods Son died and rose again. Somehow, seeing our lives in reflection of that event still has the power to define or change our lives. And getting a view of ourselves from the Cross of Jesus can be the most re-defining view of our lives.

April 16 Fresh Eyes on Easter. Joe Habermehl. Did you really see this movie already or do you just think you did. We can so easily miss the details because we think we already know. Maybe it’s time to put fresh eyes on Easter and see what we’ve missed.

April 9 The Inside View. Joe Habermehl.The Death and Resurrection of Jesus has always been the inside conversation and passion of the Trinity. God draws us into His drama of seeing His Son die for our sins, not to shame us but to help us share in the fullness of His love for us.

April 2 The Long View. Joe Habermehl. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus has always been the plan. He was crucified from the foundation of the world and the entire story of life has focused on this moment.

Planted with Purpose MAR 2017

You can tell if a forest has been planted by people because the trees are all in rows. When God plants forests its full of unique-ness. In fact everything God makes is uniquely tailored for its time and place, whether its snow flakes, star fish or you. God made you unique and God made our church unique.

March 26 We are new. Joe Habermehl. Are you ready for the changing of the seasons? Do you hold on to the past? Why? Sometimes we are too broken to believe, too fearful to change, too used what we know.

March 19 We are Light. Danny Morten. Jesus’ vision of us is as a light on the hill- people who draw out the hopes and desires of people living in darkness. Let's be that light, as bright as we can.

March 12 We are Free. Mel Palmer. We were made for freedom and Jesus has done all the work so that we can break free of what keeps us from being who He made us to be.

March 5 We are Hope Central. Pastor Jodie Habermehl. We have been made with a unique DNA that God has chosen for us. Lets be the most genuine version of us we can be.

OUT OF THE GATES - JOE HABERMEHL FEB 2017

Jesus said, “I will build my church.” And just to make sure we understood that nothing would get in His way, He said, “And the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” Here it is- Jesus Wins. But not just for Himself, but in Christ we win. This is the promise and reality for Jesus’ Church: You are born to overcome! This month is Vision month and we looking at the vision Jesus has for us in the certain knowledge that we are destined to win.

Feb 26. The Keys of His Kingdom. Not only does Jesus have authority but He gives authority. He wants us to be able to “do even greater works than these in His Name.”

Feb 19. Those Hellish Gates and Violence of Faith. Everywhere in every setting Jesus taught lessons of faith. Not just that we could enjoy water turned into wine, but so that we would see the oppression of darkness thrown off everywhere we go.

Feb 12. The Builder and the Co-laborers. Amazingly, Jesus doesn’t want to do it all Himself, even though He could. He wants each of us to be involved in building up His Church and bring it into its glorious inheritance.

Feb 5. He will so We will. Jesus Christ overcame sin, satan and death not just so we could applaud Him, He did it so that we could overcome in Him.